ABC wants no more to do with the Miss America Pageant. So,
they've dropped the broadcast.

The reason? Declining ratings.

What a changed world it is that this announcement is not
startling news. This is the first time in half-a-century that
the pageant does not have a television commitment! Once upon a
time, the idea of becoming Miss America was every school girl's
dream. And a sneaked glimpse of Miss America in her bathing suit
was every teen-aged boy's fantasy. Er...not to mention a lot of
older fella's as well. So the decline of the pageant into
television mediocrity is a recent phenomenon. In the decade of
the 90's the pageant's ratings were decent. Certainly not the
equal of what they were in the glory years of the 50s and 60s
when the pageant was a broadcast that viewers of all ages did
not want to miss. But more than acceptable in a divided
television world of endless cable channels.

Perhaps the pageant has survived as long as it has on
reputation, and the viewing habits of an audience that has been
aging each year. The shocking Vanessa Williams scandal of 1984
did not destroy the pageant. Neither did Bert Park's replacement
as master of ceremonies a couple of years earlier. Could any man
ever equal his rendition of "There She Is Miss America?"

Park's signature song in the event.

Vanessa Williams, notwithstanding, what has apparently done in
Miss America is SEX. The easy accessibility of tawdry
entertainment not only on broadcast television, but via cable,
vcr tapes, cds, and downloadable product from the internet. The
once risque Miss America pageant has been rendered into
irrelevancy. Adult beauty pageants are no longer particulary
cool or hip, and as they remain on the broadcast channels are
now an easy target for ever zealous right-wingers who dislike
women parading around half-naked on television. Zealots who knew
they were overmatched during the pageant's popular heyday.

The Miss America Pageant is out-of-touch with the America of the
2000's. Just as the variety show format is long-dead, these type
of pageants have been on struggling for years. They are like
something that belonged to an old aunt. Too precious to throw
away. But not really worth the trouble to bring down from the
attic for a new appraisal.

Network television today is reality show mad. Actresses
willingly appear on the repugnant "Fear Factor" to perform
repugnant feats. Would Miss American do that!

Probably not.

Reality television is full of racy reparte between nubile
singles. The focus of the shows are frequently about what couple
will pair off. Certainly not on camera. -- But that is about as
far from Miss America as you can get.

The emphasis in reality television is for spontaneity. Even if
some events are staged, the contestants reactions to them are
not. People cry. People fight. People plot against one another.
People reveal their innermost emotions. In comparison, the Miss
America beauty "contest" seems from another century.

And speaking of Vanessa Williams. Her "artful" photographs did
not prevent her from becoming a successful recording artist. But
her reputation remained tarnished for years. Unlike Vanessa,
scandal has actually helped reality star Paris Hilton of
internet sex-tape fame. { was that whole deal a publicity stunt?
} Paris and her equally bubble-brained co-star, Nichole Richie,
give the viewer everything that the haughty Miss America pageant
cannot.

That is, strikingly beautiful young babes just being themselves,
and not afraid to be seen as less than perfect { or anywhere
near... } in front of the entire nation. Racy photographs and
sex tapes on the internet are just part of the new landscape.
Such intimacies in the public domain might discourage certain
potential viewers from tuning in. But they won't stop the show,
so to speak. This is a wholesale change in culture. Just as
slap-stick comedy passed into television history with Lucille
Ball. Quaint beauty pageants just don't connect with the modern
audience, as they once did.

Does anybody care any more about elegant, well-spoken young
women in bathing suits? Have we lost regard for their
commendable aspirations to become the next generation of
doctors, lawyers, school teachers, industrialists, and other
contributing members of society?

The rating numbers do not lie.

Miss America may not be dead. But she's certainly on life
support.

About the author:
Vance Cureton is the Managing Editor of ReadingPost.Com. A
topical website featuring politics, news, and social commentary
from a liberal point-of-view.

Author : Vance Cureton
Site : www.goarticles.com

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